


Breaking the Mask

by AidanJail



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Slight Mention of Blood, drarry heavily implied, sectumsempra scene rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-05 01:58:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15853890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AidanJail/pseuds/AidanJail
Summary: Harry had rushed to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom as soon as he had seen Malfoy’s dot next to Myrtle’s. What was Malfoy doing there? What was he up to?--Re-writing of the Sectumsempra scene but with changes, different end. TW in the notes in the beginning.





	Breaking the Mask

**Author's Note:**

> TW for (a short mention of) blood and suicide mention

Harry had rushed to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom as soon as he had seen Malfoy’s dot next to Myrtle’s. What was Malfoy doing there? What was he up to? He stopped at the door, trying to hear through it, but when he realised he couldn’t, he entered as silently as possible. Malfoy was standing with his back at the door, facing a broken mirror, his hands clutching the sink so hard his knuckles were white, even whiter than usual and Harry didn’t think that was possible before but it was. Malfoy’s head hung low, his hair falling messily in front of his eyes from what Harry could see, and his shoulders were shaking slightly. His entire body seemed tense while Myrtle was chanting with a slightly soothing voice words meant to calm someone.

“Don’t… Don’t… Tell me what’s wrong… I can help you…

\- No one can help me. I can’t do it… I can’t… It won’t work… And unless I do it soon… He says he’ll kill me…”

Malfoy’s whole body was shaking now. Harry froze as it hit him: Malfoy was crying. Harry could hear it in the blond’s voice, he could see it in the way he was shaking. Harry stood there, utterly shocked. The sound of a tear falling in the sink resonated in the empty bathroom. Malfoy gasped and a sob was heard, before he slowly looked up into the broken mirror. He froze as he saw Harry behind him, but only for a milisecond.

Malfoy’s wand was in his hand as he quickly turned around, and had he not been on the other side of said wand, Harry would’ve admired how fast and graciously Malfoy moved. Harry drew his wand too as Malfoy’s spell missed him by a few inches. Which was strange, Malfoy never missed. Harry stepped out of the shattered glass coming from the now broken lamp behind him and threw a _Levicorpus_ at Malfoy. Malfoy shielded the attack and raised his wand again to throw another spell at Harry.

“No! No! Stop it! Stop! STOP!”

Harry barely registered Myrtle’s screams as the citern behind her exploded due to his spell missing Malfoy. The other boy’s face was twisted in a terrified expression and there were still tears streaming down his eyes, maybe more than before. Harry, who was ready to fire another hex, froze. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t actually hurt Malfoy, not with the boy barely trying (he never missed and yet every spell he had thrown had landed several inches from Harry) and looked like he would welcome a spell hitting him (he barely dogded at all, and his shielding was growing weaker each time). Harry didn’t realise he was the perfect target for Malfoy right away, but Malfoy did. The other boy got up, his face full of despair, and shouted.

“Crucio!”

Harry’s eyes widened as his brain registered what Malfoy had said. He didn’t move, didn’t dodge. He waited for the pain, closing his eyes in anticipation. But the pain never came. Harry opened his eyes slowly, one at first, then the other, and was met with the sight of Malfoy’s completely panicked face. Then the boy fell on his knees, curling on himself, and a sob tore the air and Harry’s heart broke. He was breathing unevenly, trying to calm down, the room slowly filling with Malfoy sobs.

Harry slowly walked to Malfoy, unsure of what to do. He didn’t know what to say either. He should walk right out of this bathroom, that was the only reasonable thing to do, but one look at Malfoy was enough to make him stay. The boy hadn’t been able to cast Crucio. He hadn’t meant it enough to hurt Harry. Harry knelt besides Malfoy slowly, trying not to scare him. Somehow, he felt awful, because he had wanted to hurt Malfoy so bad. He knew he should be happy, mock Malfoy, hurt him, enjoy having the upper-hand, but right now, all he felt was his heart shattering in a million pieces. Seeing as Malfoy didn’t move, he sat on the floor, which was completely wet.

“Sod off Potter… I don’t need you to rub it in my face, nor do I need your pity…”

Even Malfoy’s whisper sounded broken, and Harry automaticly put his arms around him and pulled him closer. Malfoy let him. It felt okay. Harry glanced at him and noticed Malfoy’s hand bleeding. His eyes darted to the broken mirror and he saw small traces of blood there. That’s when he noticed the knife on the edge of the sink. His eyes widened and he turned to Myrtle, who was now watching them silently. His eyes darted between Malfoy, the knife and Myrtle and when she looked at him in the eyes with horror in hers, he couldn’t help but hold Draco tighter.

“What were you doing, exactly?”

Harry realised a little too late how cold his voice sounded. And when Draco tensed, he realised how the sentence sounded awfully like an accusation. Draco tried to get out of Harry’s grip, but Harry couldn’t let him leave. Not now.

“Let me go, Potter, it’s none. Of. Your. Business!

\- No, wait! Were you going to kill yourself?”

Harry blurted out the only thing he could think about, and Draco froze.

“What?”

There was shock in Draco’s voice. He turned slowly to face Harry, as the latter had released him slightly (still not completely, and had he not been so worried, Harry would’ve blushed at the proximity and the awkwardness of their positions).

“I… The knife… Were you going to kill yourself?”

Myrtle sobbed behind them, but Harry’s entire focus was on Draco who seemed utterly horrified.

“I was not! I would never… I…”

Draco stopped. His offended expression crumbled. He looked down. Harry’s eyes widened even more and he drew the boy closer, holding him tight, so tight it felt he would never let him go. He shouldn’t feel like that, but somehow, the prospect of not having Draco around felt like the world was tumbling down. He felt the panic rise slowly, and his lower lip was trembling. Draco seemed shocked at first but he slowly let himself be hold, and then tears were falling again, soaking Harry’s shirt. Harry didn’t mind.

“I just… I wanted to get rid of it… His Mark… I know magic doesn’t… And I thought… The Muggle way…”

Draco’s voice was breaking over and over, and Harry’s panic kept rising. He couldn’t let Draco go, and he felt like it was the end of the world, again and again, as Draco’s mumbling became more frantic. The other boy was gripping his shirt, and that felt grounding. Harry barely felt the water on the floor anymore.

“It didn’t though… The knife… It kept slipping, never touching it… I think it’s some kind of charm…”

Harry barely realised he had started rocking Draco.

“And I thought… Maybe… Maybe it was a good idea… To…”

Harry felt like his chest was exploding. No it wasn’t a good idea. It was far, very far from a good idea.

“But Father… He would be in even more trouble… And they’d probably kill Mother to punish him… I can’t… I can’t be responsible for my Mother’s death…”

One of Harry’s hand found its way to the blond’s hair. It was soft. Harry kissed his hair. He couldn’t let go.

“He sent me a lock of her hair… A reminder… I have to… I can’t, but… I have to… I…-

\- We’ll find a solution. We’ll… I don’t know… We’ll ask for help… But don’t you dare… Don’t… Don’t you dare kill yourself.

\- Why do you care?”

Draco’s voice was barely above a whisper, and it sounded so small. Like he didn’t feel like he deserved to speak, to be here. And Harry’s heart seemed to shatter over and over again. That was so far from Malfoy. It was so far from the cold mask he was used to, the boy who taunted him and mocked everyone. It sounded true.

“Please, promise me… I can’t loose you…”

Harry’s voice broke too as he hold Draco tighter. He prayed for the other boy to promise, he was ready to do anything. But he didn’t have to say it, as the blond nodded slightly, still holding onto Harry’s shirt. And maybe it was foolish, but Harry wanted to protect him from the world, take Draco away from everything. And he would do his best for the boy.

**Author's Note:**

> gold-from-straw said on tumblr "What if harry were too slow with the sectsempra and Draco hit him with a (rather ineffective) crucio instead? I’ve wanted a comfort scene for this for AGES!"


End file.
